DV encoding

[elitrek]

Hi!
Sometime ago I bought a miniDV camcorder DV in/out and I now was wondering of capturing eps from TV (or VHS) through it, converting the DV to Divx and then to VCD (looking at the converting guides it seems to me that the intermediate step can be skipped).
I was wondering if I need a capture card even if with DV-in.
What's the most appropriate guide for a newbie as I am right now?

Thanx for yur help

[TeeeRex]

Couple of assumtions here - Firstly I assume you have a 1394 capture card ? - If not, then you arn't going to capture anything! yet alone convert it VCD. If you do - are you saying that you want to use the DV IN part of your camera to record to DV (on the camera itself) from a TV/VHS and then capture it to the PC via the 1394 ? If so then you need to consider a couple of things - DV IN is not Analogue In - therefore you cannot just plug your VHS/TV into your camcorder - they usually have analogue/composite out ports but not in. You need a converter of some description to do this (anybody have any recommendations?). However, it will be better if you record the source directly to your PC without involving the camera at all - you'll need either an analogue capture card, or an analogue to DV adapter (again don;t use this setup myself as my card has both DV and analogue connections). - Anybody got any suggestions ?

I hope that will get you started ? - my advice is to get a capture card - and if you want to capture both DV and VHS/TV - then get one which accepts both formats ...

Cheers,

TeeeRex

[elitrek]

What I was thinking is: if I have a dig camcorder which (I suppose) has got the proper software to download whatever I've got on it to a computer, can I use it to replace a TV-card as hardware I need to capture from TV?

Sorry if my question is stupid but I posted it on the newbie section!

[Riccardom]

To do that (analog source --> dig cam --> PC) you need a digital camcorder with the analog input.
It can be another set of connections, different from the analog output, or the same connection and a switch IN/OUT.
In addition your life will be easier if the cam can do passthru, without have to store on tape and than send to PC, taking twice the time.
Hope it helps
Riccardom